Roseate Spoonbill

Description:

A bizarre wading bird, the bright pink Roseate Spoonbill uses its odd bill to strain small food items out of the water. It can be easily distinguished from the Great Egret that it is walking past. In photo (3), it is standing next to a Great Blue Heron. In the last photo (4) you can see the head of the Great Egret peeking out under the Great Blue Herons lower beak. It was amazing how these large birds slipped in and out of the tall reeds.

Habitat:

A small opening in the tall reeds beside Highway 27 in Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. This was just before the Blue Goose Trail.

Notes:

Sabine NWR,about 8 miles south of Hackberry, on State Highway 27, was established in 1937 to provide habitat for migratory waterfowl and other birds. The refuge consists of a basin of wetlands located between the Gulf's beach cheniers (oak ridges)and the coastal prairie, which is one of the most productive and fertile areas of North America. It encompasses 124,511 acres of fresh,intermediate and brackish marshes and is one of the largest estuarine-dependent marine species nurseries in southwest Louisiana. It has also been designated as an "Internationally Important Bird Area" due to the numerous wading, water and marsh birds that utilize it throughout the year.